When You Are Involved In A Domestic Dispute That Turns Violent: Tips For You

While you never want to be involved in a domestic dispute with a partner that turns into a case of domestic violence. However, if the situation does ever occur to you, you can find yourself in a major predicament if you do not know what to expect and how to handle the fallout and consequences. Get to know more about dealing with a situation involving domestic violence and what you will need to do to when dealing with this difficult situation. Then, you will be prepared in the case of trouble.  

Get An Understanding Of The Charges Filed

When the police are called to deal with a case of domestic violence, they will take statements from the parties involved and from witnesses. If you or your partner refuse to make statements about what happened, the police will have to build their impression of the situation based on physical evidence, the statements of other people, and the like. With the information they have available to them, the police will them file charges on one or both of you.

It is important to understand the types of charges filed in order to proceed accordingly. There are two primary types of domestic violence, misdemeanor domestic violence and felony domestic violence. Felony charges are less typical, but can occur if sexual assault is involved, if a child is hurt, or if the person being charged has multiple other convictions for domestic violence.

Sometimes the domestic assault charges can be paired with other charges such as disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, and others. Be sure you understand the charges against you and/or your partner.

Hire An Attorney

Whether you are the person being charged with domestic violence or not, you will likely want to hire an attorney. If you are facing charges, a criminal law attorney will be best to help you out. They are adept at dealing with violent crime charges and can help to negotiate a plea bargain for you or get the charges dropped or reduced based on the evidence or lack thereof.

On the other hand, if you are the victim of domestic violence, an attorney can help you to protect yourself from any potential backlash from the charges being filed. You may, for example, need help getting a protection order issued and enforced, getting full custody of your child, or potentially filing for divorce or legal separation. All of these can be improved by the assistance of a lawyer (such as one from Begley Carlin & Mandio LLP).

Now that you know a few of the steps you need to take when you are involved in a situation that involves domestic violence, you can better handle the situation if it ever occurs in your life.